A Family Tradition – Old School Florida Smuggling, Chapter 14
Robert C. Hutchinson
March 27, 2020
The evolution of drug smuggling and related crimes in south Florida can be viewed through one
family and their many criminal associates. The Barker Family entered the smuggling business in the 1970s
and transitioned from marijuana to cocaine and illegal aliens by the 1990s. Through drug and alien
loads, broad conspiracies, and multiple deaths, the smuggling group was active, successful, and
notorious. This is an account of old school Florida smuggling through the long thread of one small
family. It is a bit of a history lesson and a fascinating journey back in time.
A Family Tradition – Old School Florida Smuggling, Chapter 13
Robert C. Hutchinson
March 25, 2020
The evolution of drug smuggling and related crimes in south Florida can be viewed through one
family and their many criminal associates. The Barker Family entered the smuggling business in the 1970s
and transitioned from marijuana to cocaine and illegal aliens by the 1990s. Through drug and alien
loads, broad conspiracies, and multiple deaths, the smuggling group was active, successful, and
notorious. This is an account of old school Florida smuggling through the long thread of one small
family. It is a bit of a history lesson and a fascinating journey back in time.
Resilience When Help May Not Be on the Way
Catherine L. Feinman
March 25, 2020
Disasters like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina physically devastated the regions in which they occurred,
affected people who were not directly impacted, and spurred nationwide action to assist in the response
and recovery activities. As significant as those events were, though, they could not prepare the nation
for the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike most disasters in recent history, every community is feeling the
impact and there is no end in sight. Daily routines have been universally interrupted, and everyone is
now living in the hot zone.
Triggered Collapse, Part 4: Cascading Consequences Beyond the Event
Drew Miller
March 25, 2020
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is a credible source for dealing with pandemics and
disaster response. In 2018, the Center created a realistic simulation of a moderately contagious and
moderately lethal virus, similar to the lethality of the 2002 SARS outbreak, which killed about 10
percent of those infected. Designed by senior scholar Eric Toner, the “Clade X” simulation was based on
a virus that was bioengineered and released by a group modelled after Aum Shinrikyo – the cult that
released sarin in the Tokyo subway in 1995. According to Toner, researchers are convinced that this
scenario is plausible – a virus like this could be created and spread to ultimately kill up to 900
million people if no vaccine were successful. Health care systems would collapse, panic would spread,
and the U.S. stock market would crash. Toner warned that a pandemic could cause the collapse of hospital
systems, “Most people don’t know how close we came to having that happen in the U.S. in 2009 … due to
a not particularly virulent flu strain.”
A Family Tradition – Old School Florida Smuggling, Chapter 12
Robert C. Hutchinson
March 20, 2020
The evolution of drug smuggling and related crimes in south Florida can be viewed through one
family and their many criminal associates. The Barker Family entered the smuggling business in the 1970s
and transitioned from marijuana to cocaine and illegal aliens by the 1990s. Through drug and alien
loads, broad conspiracies, and multiple deaths, the smuggling group was active, successful, and
notorious. This is an account of old school Florida smuggling through the long thread of one small
family. It is a bit of a history lesson and a fascinating journey back in time.
PPE Shortages & Funding Gaps for Pandemics
Greg Burel
March 18, 2020
SARS, H1N1, Ebola, Zika, and now the COVID-19 pandemic blindsided U.S. public health officials and the world at large. Although this is a newsworthy headline, it is not entirely accurate. Hyperbole may sell newspapers, but has ignored the great progress that has been made in national public health emergency preparedness. This narrative downplays the lessons learned, many which resulted in improvements in preparedness. Preparedness for well understood threats and expert knowledge of how to respond to those threats – from a scientific, medical, and logistics perspective – is already established. Addressing the many lurking yet unknown threats is more challenging.
A Family Tradition – Old School Florida Smuggling, Chapter 11
Robert C. Hutchinson
March 18, 2020
The evolution of drug smuggling and related crimes in south Florida can be viewed through one
family and their many criminal associates. The Barker Family entered the smuggling business in the 1970s
and transitioned from marijuana to cocaine and illegal aliens by the 1990s. Through drug and alien
loads, broad conspiracies, and multiple deaths, the smuggling group was active, successful, and
notorious. This is an account of old school Florida smuggling through the long thread of one small
family. It is a bit of a history lesson and a fascinating journey back in time.
A Family Tradition – Old School Florida Smuggling, Chapter 10
Robert C. Hutchinson
March 13, 2020
The evolution of drug smuggling and related crimes in south Florida can be viewed through one
family and their many criminal associates. The Barker Family entered the smuggling business in the 1970s
and transitioned from marijuana to cocaine and illegal aliens by the 1990s. Through drug and alien
loads, broad conspiracies, and multiple deaths, the smuggling group was active, successful, and
notorious. This is an account of old school Florida smuggling through the long thread of one small
family. It is a bit of a history lesson and a fascinating journey back in time.
A Family Tradition – Old School Florida Smuggling, Chapter 9
Robert C. Hutchinson
March 11, 2020
The evolution of drug smuggling and related crimes in south Florida can be viewed through one family and their many criminal associates. The Barker Family entered the smuggling business in the 1970s and transitioned from marijuana to cocaine and illegal aliens by the 1990s. Through drug and alien loads, broad conspiracies, and multiple deaths, the smuggling group was active, successful, and notorious. This is an account of old school Florida smuggling through the long thread of one small family. It is a bit of a history lesson and a fascinating journey back in time.
Triggered Collapse, Part 3: Lessons in Lawlessness
Drew Miller
March 11, 2020
A pandemic, loss of the electric system, or other triggering disaster need not be that effective in
directly killing people to generate a collapse that results in millions of deaths and a weakened nation.
The “cascading effects” of an economic shut down – loss of law and order, looting and marauding,
disruption of health, sanitation, water, and transportation systems triggered by the initial disaster –
may deliver much worse, longer lasting damage. When electric grids, nuclear reactors, and local water
stop functioning, or the police force experiences many casualties, increases in violent crime could be
far worse than the virus or other threat that caused it.
